Private Spaceflight Industry at Big Turning Point, Experts Say

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The burgeoning field of commercial spaceflight
is at a major turning point, industry experts say.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that 2012 has really been an
inflection point," former astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria said
Wednesday (Oct. 17) here at the eighth annual International
Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

Lopez-Alegria, who serves as president of the Commercial
Spaceflight Federation, said there is "a sea change going on"
both in terms of achievements within the industry and the
perception of this industry to the outside world. He highlighted
major milestones from the past year, including the first launch
of a private spacecraft to the International Space Station
(the
SpaceX Dragon mission in May, as well as its follow-up flight
this month), and the continued development work on private
spacecraft by companies such as Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and Blue
Origin.

Likewise, in the realm of suborbital spaceflight — flights that
don't make a complete circle around Earth but reach space for a
few minutes — a handful of companies such as
Virgin Galactic, XCOR, Masten Aerospace and Armadillo
Aerospace continue to test their vehicles in preparation for
offering space tourist flights in the coming years.

"I can't help thinking we're in the midst of something big," Lori
Garver, deputy chief of NASA, said of the growing commercial
space industry. "These are incredibly exciting times and I am
so, so pleased and proud that NASA can play a small role."

NASA has sponsored competitions for commercial vehicles to carry
both cargo and crew to the International Space Station, which
currently relies on Russian spacecraft for transportation in the
wake of the space shuttle's retirement. The SpaceX cargo launch
earlier this month was the first of 12 scheduled delivery
missions for the firm, and other companies like Orbital Sciences
plan to begin cargo flights soon. [ Dragon
Launches 1st Space Station Cargo Trip (Photos) ]

These competitions haven't been instituted without resistance by
some in Congress, who question the safety and reliability of
commercial spacecraft, and have pushed for less funding for
private spaceflight.

Many commercial space companies still face an uphill climb, both
in developing complex technology and in growing a market beyond
NASA for their services.

"This industry loves hard stuff," Roger Krone, president of
Network and Space Systems at the Boeing Company, said today (Oct.
18). "We just thrive on challenge. If we wanted to do something
easy or simple we wouldn't be in this business. We all want to be
part of something that's new and exciting."